How to maintain car paint

Car paint for cars

Like our skin is to us

Don’t just put sunscreen on yourself

On a windy and sunny day

Cars also need our careful care

So how to maintain car paint?

01

Car paint composition

The composition of a car's paint surface is actually very simple. It consists of three layers: primer, color paint, and varnish from the inside to the outside.

▶Primer

Attached to the steel plate, it mainly plays a role in preventing rust. It usually appears gray and can be seen from some accessories.

▶Paint

Mainly pigmented, in the middle layer, the colors are bright but not shiny enough.

▶Varnish

Also known as varnish, it adheres to the paint, not only giving people a shiny aesthetic, but also protecting the paint.

02

Car paint maintenance tips

▶Park your car indoors as much as possible

Try to park your car indoors and avoid strong sunlight when parking to reduce rain exposure.

▶Do not wash the car immediately after it is hot

After being exposed to the scorching sun or the engine has just stopped running, washing with cold water will cause a rapid cooling, which is very detrimental to the surface paint, and the engine cannot be washed directly.

▶Never use a dry towel to wipe away dust

Do not wipe the car dry. The small grit on it may wear off the paint surface. Be sure to rinse it with water.

▶Clean up special corrosive materials immediately

If leaves, resin, bird droppings and other dirt fall off the car body, they must be cleaned in time to avoid corroding the paint surface.

▶Wash your car promptly after rain

Nowadays, urban air pollution is very serious, and acid rain often rains, which has a great corrosive effect on the car body. Therefore, do not think that you can be lazy and not wash your car on rainy days. In fact, it is just the opposite. You need to wash your car in time after rain.

▶Schedule car wash

Wash the car regularly according to the actual usage of the vehicle and the dirtiness of the vehicle.

▶Choose a regular car wash

Is it wrong to use "posture" during car washing? If there is a lot of sediment on the paint surface, if you directly use a high-pressure water gun or wipe it with a sponge, the sand particles are likely to damage the paint surface, so rinse it with clean water or a low-pressure water gun first. The car washing procedures and car washing supplies used by some irregular car washes may damage the car paint!

▶If there are small scratches, touch up the paint as soon as possible

It is inevitable that you will encounter some small bumps during the use of the car. When there are small scratches on the car body, you can use your own paint touch-up pen to touch up the paint. If the base is leaking, it should be dealt with in time to avoid rust.

▶Waxing, glaze sealing, coating, crystal plating, and protective film

There are many products on the market to care for car paint, just like our skin care products. The actual effects vary. If you choose the wrong one, it may cause damage to the paint surface. Be careful when choosing and using them.

Usually, in order to protect the car's paint surface, in addition to maintaining the car in daily life, we also choose to use waxing, glaze sealing, coating, crystal plating, and protective film to extend the life of the car paint.

 01

waxing

Waxing is the cheapest method. Its principle is to use tiny car wax components to fill the scratched pits to restore the smoothness of the surface. At the same time, a thin wax film is formed on the paint surface to prevent the paint surface from being damaged. Direct air contact can slow down the oxidation of the paint surface and reduce damage to the paint surface caused by larger particles in the air and ultraviolet rays in the sun.
Waxing can indeed make the car paint shiny in the short term. However, due to the soft nature of the car wax itself, the durability is very limited. Generally, after washing the car two to three times, the wax layer will be completely gone.

  02 Glaze sealing

A method that is more durable and easier to operate than waxing is glazing and coating. These two can actually be regarded as the same thing. They are also sprayed with an "invisible protective layer" on the paint surface, but the materials used are slightly different, and the cost of sealing glaze materials is lower.

Although the durability is obviously better than waxing, the sealing glaze and coating will slowly fall off over time, depending on the use environment, and can generally last 3-6 months.

  03 Crystal plating

Let’s talk about crystal plating. In fact, it is essentially different from waxing, glaze sealing and coating. It is a method that is close to the properties of varnish itself, that is, by evenly applying a layer of chemicals on the surface of the car paint to form a hard protective shell. Therefore, crystal plating has good performance in terms of effect and durability.

However, not everyone can afford the price of crystal plating. If you choose high-end products from big brand stores, the price will be several thousand yuan. At the same time, because the crystal-plated material is harmful to the ubiquitous plastic parts on the car body, it requires technicians to have superb skills and comprehensively protect the vehicle before construction can be carried out. The construction is more complicated and takes a long time.

  04 Film

Applying protective film is the most durable way to protect car paint. It is to apply a high-brightness colorless protective film on the surface of the car paint instead of covering it with a layer of chemical agents, thus avoiding damage to the paint surface itself.

Due to the relatively high hardness and toughness of the protective film material itself, in daily use, it can achieve a more perfect protective effect than crystal plating, preventing the car paint from being scratched by sand or sharp objects, or being corroded by acid rain or bird droppings. It also has UV and antioxidant capabilities.

If after long-term use, the protective film has obvious scratches, discoloration, etc., or is even damaged in a scratch accident, then as long as the protective film is removed, the car will look brand new again.

03

How to choose protective film

Generally speaking, when choosing a protective film, there are several ways to judge the performance of the product.

▶Touch

Invisible car clothing with relatively excellent performance is very soft and has particularly good ductility because it needs to fit perfectly according to the profile changes of different parts of different vehicles.

▶Taste

Invisible car coverings from big brands have almost no smell, but many inferior products have a very strong chemical smell, so don’t consider them.

▶Brightness

A good paint mask can increase the glossiness of the car paint by more than 30%, and can resist the oxidation of the original car paint varnish layer by ultraviolet rays. When the paint mask is removed, no glue will be left and the original car paint will not be damaged.

▶Hot fix

The paint mask has the characteristics of high elasticity and wear resistance, resistance to yellowing, high temperature resistance and scratch resistance. The TPU material has automatic scratch repair function.